Beat procrastination before exams

This prompt acts as a supportive study coach. You say what you are avoiding, the deadline, what is stopping you and how much time you have today, and it turns that into small steps to start now.

text-study-motivation-coach — chatgpt — 64 words

Act as a supportive study coach. I am procrastinating on [SUBJECT / TASK].

Exam or deadline: [DATE]
What is stopping me: [e.g. too big, boring, anxious]
Time I have today: [HOURS]

Ask 3 short questions, then give me a tiny first step (under 10 minutes), a 2-hour plan with breaks, and one line to say to myself when I want to quit. No lectures.

Edit in the builder Copy & open ChatGPT ↗Copy & open Gemini ↗Copy & open Claude ↗

Start the 10-minute step right now, before you finish reading the reply.

Get a better result

What you will get

A short coaching chat: three quick questions, then a first step under ten minutes, a two-hour plan with breaks and one line to say to yourself when you want to quit, without a lecture.

Common mistake

The AI asks all three questions and writes a long answer before you reply.

Fix: Start with “ask the questions one at a time and wait for my answer before you ask the next one”.

Also watch for

The two hours are spread evenly over topics, though one counts for more. List the topics with their weight in the exam, such as “algebra 40 percent, geometry 30 percent”, and ask for time in that proportion.
The worry is bigger than the studying. If anxiety makes it hard to sleep or eat, talk to a teacher, a counsellor or someone you trust. A study plan helps with procrastination, not with a real problem.

Try a variation: last night

Replace the plan with “tonight only: three hours, high-yield topics first, a 20-minute recap at the end and a firm sleep time”. Rest the night before an exam is worth more than an extra hour of notes.

Still not right? Reply with this

Ask me the three questions one at a time, then split the two hours by the weighting I gave you and keep each break under ten minutes.